Fort Wayne College

I spent the past few days pulling together a presentation about social media that I will be delivering to the new president of Harrison College, Jason Konesco.  Jason is from a different generation than his predecessor and is more willing to adopt social media as a marketing strategy for both Harrison College and himself. 

In addition to defining social media, I made the presentation a little more relevent to education and Harrison.  I touch on what our competitors are doing right and wrong, where Harrison currently stands, and how our executive-level staff can contribute.  As far as I can tell, only three of the seven members of our ExCom staff are "actively" using social media (Facebook or Twitter) on a regular basis.  While that may be a good ratio when compared to any other Indiana career college, I would like to see 100% adoption.

How will I do this? Simple, I will start by easing them in - blogging is a great way to start reluctant staff to participate in social media.  It gives them a virtually unlimited forum to discuss their accomplishments and the milestones of their staff and organization.  And since Harrison has a Terre Haute college, Fort Wayne college and Anderson career college (to name just a few), our executive staff has much to tout. 

Stay tuned for blogs that will soon be authored by Harrison's executive staff.  In the meantime, don't forget to follow us on Twitter (@HarrisonColl) and become a fan on Facebook.

I ask that question so many times every day as a librarian at Harrison College (formerly Indiana Business College)! When I started this job at the Fort Wayne College just seven short months ago, I had no idea how much daily interaction I would have with the students and faculty on-campus --- and no idea how much I would love getting to know them and watch them grow as they work towards a degree in Medical Assistant, Business Finance, Criminal Justice, or whatever Career Advancement path they have chosen at this point in their lives. I know that what I am doing is helping them take a step in the right direction. 

And the best part is that I get to have FUN while I do it. Someone asked me this morning if I liked being a librarian. I said, "Absolutely! People think I'm a genius because I get to look up all of the answers. It's like being Alex Trebek!" I love working at Harrison because they care enough about their students to hire an accredited librarian at their campuses who can work individually with their students to make sure they are getting the resources they need, when they need them.

I go into the classrooms to make sure the students are being taught the Information Literacy skills they will need to be successful in the college careers, and in life. And the administration has invested in a network of librarians and on-line services (databases, e-books, journals, on line reference) to ensure success both on line and on campus. No wonder Harrison College was voted one of Indiana Best Places to Work!

came into the Learning Resource Center (what we call our Library at Harrison College) desperate for help with his final research paper. He had to pass this class in order to graduate. Since Harrison has a flexible class schedule and is a popular choice as a college for working adults, he faced many of the pressures other adult students do and had gotten a little behind on his work. He needed an A on this final project. 

The problem was that he had no idea how to really conduct research, evaluate resources, or properly quote, paraphrase and cite the sources as required by his instructor. I told him I would be willing to help but he would really have to put in some hard work and long days to make it happen.

To my surprise, the student came back that night and stayed for several hours, working with me on how to find information in our databases (as opposed to on Google), and how to evaluate the information he had found. He learned how to paraphrase and cite properly. He brought in a rough draft of his paper the next day so that we could go over revisions and stayed for several hours performing edits and conducting more research to fine-tune his paper. In the end, he was turned in a product he was proud of and managed to pass the class.

A few months later, the student came in to thank me and tell me that he wouldn't have graduated without my help. I told him that it was because of his willingness to ask for help and put in the hard work that he was able to succeed and earn his degree in Business Marketing. He even told me that he was thinking of going on to get his bachelor’s degree! I have since seem him in the LRC at least three times a week diligently conducting his job search with as much energy as he put in to that final paper. I know he will succeed in that as well and begin his Business Marketing Career. 

And THAT is why I do what I do. We all just need a little reminder now and then, especially when someone takes the last cup of coffee in the pot!

Have you ever wondered what qualifies a librarian to do his or her job? Continuing education. Librarians go to college to earn a bachelor degree in any program. Then they return to college to earn a master degree in library science. Trained librarians take time out of their lives to teach the next generation how to service patrons in a library setting. It takes at least two years to earn this degree. But the learning doesn’t stop there.

A few weeks ago, a group of eleven librarians from Harrison College, one of the Indiana Best Places to Work,  attended a library conference in Fort Wayne. We went expressly to continue learning about librarianship and to discover new and exciting ways to provide our students with services that enhance their learning. Sending eleven librarians to one conference was a milestone for Harrison College. First, until this year, Harrison had only a couple of librarians.  But also, even in these tough economic times, Harrison College was focused on training their librarians to benefit their students. They were willing to spend the money on our education to advance your education.     

As we attended the sessions, very often as a “family” unit, we noticed we were the largest group of librarians from one institution. Many other libraries represented at the conference had one or two librarians in attendance, most likely due to economic constraints. Being together made a great bonding experience for us especially since we work miles away from each other and only converse via email. Knowing each other on a personal level helps us work together on projects meant especially for our students.

You may still be considering attending college or just started attending Harrison College. You don’t have to get a master degree to provide a service to other people. We did it because we enjoy helping students in a library setting. Here at Harrison College, you can get started with a program that interests you. Many of our programs focus on helping other people.  The important part of your preparation is continuing your education. To learn more, please visit Harrison.edu.

Librarians are the bridge between teaching and learning. Librarians are the connection between what students are taught in the classroom and the knowledge they apply to their education, careers and personal lives. We seek and gather knowledge ready to dispense information at a moment’s notice. We facilitate your learning and teach you lifelong skills for researching information.

Here at Harrison College, the library system that began with one librarian and one organized library has spread into a giant network of teaching and learning. Currently, there are seven libraries with more libraries scheduled to open soon at a campus near you!  Staffing those libraries are ten professional librarians dedicated to providing you with the best tools available to gather the knowledge necessary to complete your education.

Campuses with Learning Resource Centers include Indianapolis Downtown, The Chef’s Academy, Indianapolis East, Fort Wayne, Evansville, Muncie, and Terre Haute. Soon the Anderson and Columbus, OH, campuses will host libraries with two more librarians eager to assist you. And while the Online division does not have a physical library presence, it does have a librarian preparing a web presence to support Harrison’s global community.

In addition to the ten librarians, two professional librarians work behind the scenes to ease the use of the libraries. One provides digital information resources and the other records vital resource information into the library catalog. And what happened to that lone librarian I mentioned earlier? She is now the director of the Learning Resource Centers.

If you are lucky enough to attend a campus with a Learning Resource Center, please talk to the librarian. Don’t be afraid to ask questions! Answering questions is what we do. If your campus does not currently have a librarian, feel free to contact one of the existing libraries. We are equipped to help you, too.

Earlier this week, I went to the Indiana State Fair and had the opportunity to be a part of the Harrison College booth. What fun that was! I was excited to talk with people from all over the state as they stopped by to see who we are and what we are all about. While we were talking I began to see that there were a few questions that seemed to be the most common.


So, here are the top 5 Questions Asked at the Indiana State Fair!

Q:  “Where is Harrison College located?”


A:  Harrison College is everywhere! We are as close as next door throughout Indiana in Elkhart, Muncie, Anderson, Fort Wayne, Indianapolis, Columbus, Terre Haute, Evansville, and Lafayette. We are excited about our newest campus in Columbus, Ohio—the first ground-campus we have outside of the state of Indiana. And we are available INTERNATIONALLY via our distance learning college. Many people have known about us for 107 years—but they knew us by the name Indiana Business College—and as you can see, we are not just in Indiana anymore.
 

Q:  “What kinds of degrees do you offer?”


A:  Many people are surprised that we offer both Associate and Bachelors degrees. We offer high quality instruction in small classes or via online college courses. Our students earn degrees in Accounting, Business Marketing, Business Management, Criminal Justice, Vet Tech, Medical Assistant, Network Administration, and Massage Therapy just to name a few. For a complete list, just click here.
 

Q:  “Will my credits transfer to Harrison College?”


A:  They may! Just like all colleges, we would have to review your credits to see if the course you have completed covered the same material as the courses we teach. We will also look to see if you had the required grade for credits to transfer and that the credits are not over 10 years old. Now, here is where we differ from other colleges—we do this HAPPILY!
 

Q:  “Is Harrison College accredited?”


A:  YES! We are nationally accredited through Accrediting Council for Independent Colleges and Schools (ACICS) and recognized by the Career College Association (CCA).
 

Q:  “Do you have any student like me?”


A: YES!  I always want to laugh when someone asks me this because that was maybe the biggest question that I had when I enrolled at Indiana Business College at almost 30 years old. It really doesn’t matter what age you are, if you have a high school diploma or a GED, if you work full time and have a family or if you are enrolling right out of high school—THERE ARE PEOPLE JUST LIKE YOU ATTENDING HARRISON COLLEGE!
 

Hello everyone. The Indiana Black Expo Summer Celebration got off to a great start yesterday! We had a lot of people stop by our booth interested in furthering their education at Harrison College.

Today we had several people ask if we had a Fort Wayne college or an Evansville college so I would like to take a moment to address where our campuses are located.

We have 12 campuses throughout the state of Indiana and one that will be opening in time for the fall quarter in Columbus Ohio. We also offer online courses. Our Indiana Campuses are located in:

• Anderson
• Columbus
• Elkhart
• Evansville
• Fort Wayne
• Indianapolis (downtown, east and northwest)
• Lafayette
• Marion
• Muncie
• Terre Haute